Mr. Speaker, moments ago in the House I heard the word “reprehensible”. I can tell the House what reprehensible is. Reprehensible is the misinformation and innuendo spread by the hon. member for Skeena about Bill C-49.
The hon. member for Skeena yesterday railed against the 25% benchmark required for first nations to approve their land codes. He misled parliament by omitting the fact that a 50% approval rating is needed on the first vote. That is what reprehensible is and it is time that it stopped in the House.
Let us look at the Reform's own record. It has 70,000 members and 32,000 members voted in the UA process. That is 46%. The first nations need 50%. Of the 46% of Reform members who voted, 27% approved the UA. It would seem that 27% is good enough for Reform, but 25% is not good enough for first nations. That is what reprehensible is.